WARNING for anyone buying BBC's "Life" on BluRay

Anyone in the US, that is. The original BBC version of the series Life (the sequel to Planet Earth) is coming to Blu-Ray in the U.S. It's the version narrated by David Attenborough (the US version is narrated by Oprah Winfrey ). Here's a link.

The Attenborough narrated Life BD set is coming to the U.S. and will play just fine. It will be released on June 1 according to your Amazon link. I'm glad they're giving us the option because Attenborough kicks ass and Orca, well...doesn't.

The people encountering problems are those who imported the region-free U.K. version only to find that it's encoded at 50Hz and won't play in most U.S. BD players. This isn't a widespread problem, period.

The people encountering problems are those who imported the region-free U.K. version only to find that it's encoded at 50Hz and won't play in most U.S. BD players. This isn't a widespread problem, period.

I've never watched this but you'd think they could fit both narrators on the disc and make everyone happy.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've wondered the same thing. Weaver's narration on "Planet Earth" was great, but so was Attenborough's. One would think they could fit two audio tracks onto one disc, seeing as they have no problems doing so with commentaries and additional languages on other sets.

Is the audio track the only difference? There's no variations in actual footage?

Click to expand...

I can't speak for "Life" (I haven't been watching), but I am fairly certain that "Planet Earth" was re-cut as well as re-narrated. So I suspect there are some slight differences between the BBC and Discovery versions.

As for the narration issue, offering two different DVD sets allows for each company to sell and make money off of them. The BBC wants you to buy their version, whereas Discovery wants you to buy their version, instead. It's always about money.

Buyer beware! Discovery in their infinite wisdom has decided to release the David Attenborough and Oprah Winfrey versions of Life separately, as two different sets! In addition, the Oprah version is some one hour and thirty minutes shorter than the BBC cut. This is in stark contrast to the BBC Planet Earth released previously, which was the same cut and had a selectable Sigourney Weaver or David Attenborough narration track all within the same set.

I've read online that the Attenborough version inexplicably features higher quality 1080p video, as opposed to the 1080i video of the Orca version. Yes, most people won't be able to tell the difference but why there's a video quality difference is beyond my comprehension--it's not like Orca is taking up more space. Er, Orca's narration, that is.

I've read online that the Attenborough version inexplicably features higher quality 1080p video, as opposed to the 1080i video of the Orca version. Yes, most people won't be able to tell the difference but why there's a video quality difference is beyond my comprehension--it's not like Orca is taking up more space. Er, Orca's narration, that is.

Click to expand...

Discovery broadcasts in 1080i so nearly all of its HD content delivers in this format. The Oprah-narrated masters for "Life" are 1080i so what's why the Blu-ray discs are in that format.